How To NOT Watch Your Sheep
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: God bless you! Do NOT prod them with a staff, it doesn't work, do NOT let your pet dragon eat the sheep, bad idea, and do NOT lose the sheep you are watching, especially when it is owned by your boss. God bless you!


**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own How To Train Your Dragon. Here's a little fic where Hiccup does a job besides working at the forge. Toothless, don't eat them darn sheep!  
**

Hiccup knew for certain what jobs he was good at. He was good at adding little details to tools, sharpening razor sharp blades (he was usually able to do this and come out alive, weirdly enough), taking care of Toothless and giving horrible romantic advice to anyone who asked him, which, fortunately for everyone else, was no one. He gave himself romantic advice, which usually didn't work.

This story is not about Hiccup and romantic advice though. This is a story of whether Hiccup did a job and found out if he was good at it at all. It started one day when Stoick came about to ask Hiccup something at the forge.

Hiccup was working on tightening the saddle's buckles so that the saddle wouldn't slip and slide around Toothless. It was spring and the dragon's scales were shedding more and more, causing the saddle around his middle to not be as tight as it should be. He picked up a tool and started to hack away at the extra pieces of buckle when he heard a coughing noise made in someone's throat. He looked up to see Stoick standing awkwardly in the entrance to the forge.

"Hey, Dad, can I help you with something?" Hiccup asked cheerfully as he looked back down and continued his work. "Gobber's not here right now, just to let you know."

Stoick cleared his throat; even after all this he really didn't know how to start a conversation with his own son, (which is kinda sad). "No, I came looking for you. I have a favor to ask you."

Hiccup stopped working and looked up with a curious look on his face. "Me, what do you want me for?"

"Most of the other men and I are going on a big fishing trip for a couple of days, and I was wondering if you could do something for me?" Stoick explained. Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed as he banged harder at the saddle. So, a fishing trip, without him? Well, nice way to tell him. Of course, he did sometimes get sick on boats, and there was that one time when he lost a whole net's worth of fish, and he did tip over one of the hanger boats, but, but still!

"Are the other teens going?" Hiccup asked, his voice a little sulky and hurt.

"No, it'll be a little fishing trip, we don't need too many people," Stoick replied.

Hiccup smirked. Good, if they weren't going, it'd be a little bit more bearable. "What is your definition of 'big' and 'little', Dad?" Hiccup asked as he straightened up to look at his father. "'Cause," he said as he stood up and dusted off the work bench, "I recall you first said big, then little."

Stoick looked a bit flustered for a tiny second before saying, "It'll be about forty men, alright, Hiccup? Now, what I wanted you to do is to go out and look after the sheep for us while we're gone."

Hiccup opened his mouth to ask why and why couldn't someone else when Stoick held up a hand and said, "The other teens are mucking out all the dragons' stalls. It's spring, and we need to clean them out thoroughly, and I thought taking care of the sheep was a slightly easier job."

Hiccup smiled at that. "Yeah, I guess so." He turned to his father and asked, "And what does Gobber have to say about me not working for two days?"

Stoick smiled. "I told him to man up and not cry about it." The large Viking chief turned to leave, but before he did, he said, "And oh, Hiccup, he's saving you your share of the work."

Hiccup watched him leave before rolling his eyes and turning back to his saddle. "Joy."

He went to his job the next day after he waved off his dad at Hooligan Harbor. The longboat was filled to bursting with Vikings, and Hiccup was slightly concerned that it might sink or take on water. Of course, he shrugged as he turned to go back up the large quantity of steps, the longboats were made to hold 300 pound + Vikings.

He grabbed a basket full of fish for Toothless's breakfast and trudged up the hill, yawning. It was just barely dawn, and the sun's presence was only just noticed. Hiccup wiped his eye with his sleeve as he made his way back to his house. He managed to make it up the grand stone staircase his dad had decided would compliment their hillside home perfectly and looked up to see Toothless snoozing on the roof. The dragon was using his black paws as a pillow and Hiccup could make out a contented snore. He sighed and smiled slightly as he opened the door and went inside. He really didn't have the heart to wake him up before dawn.

After managing to make himself breakfast without burning down the house, Hiccup headed outside. He looked up to see Toothless yawning (which, he actually found to be kinda adorable with his toothless gums).

"Toothless," Hiccup called over to the Night Fury. Toothless closed his mouth, smacking his lips, and turned to his boy. He gurgled happily and leapt down to the ground, sniffing Hiccup excitedly. Hiccup smiled, and reached for the basket he had left by the house.

Toothless instantly attacked the basket, managing in fitting his large head into the opening. Hiccup smiled and gave Toothless a pat on the back before sitting down on the steps. He looked out to see the sun finally finding its place in the sky, creating a picture he would remember for a long time. He propped his head up between his hands and sat there for a few minutes before Toothless, having eaten all of the fish, started to sniff Hiccup expectantly for more.

Hiccup gasped and stood up quickly, keeping his back away from Toothless so that he could watch him. "Toothless, stop that! You've had enough fish!" Hiccup lifted one index finger and wiggled it around to make him look superior. Toothless just sat down and stared.

Hiccup sighed and stood up. He had become used to getting up on his lame leg after a while. "Now, bud, we don't have time for a ride today. Dad wants me to go watch the sheep and you're coming along."

Toothless threw him a confused look.

Hiccup sighed, scratching the back of his neck and turned to go back down. "Come on, Toothless."

Toothless grunted and looked longingly back at the house, whimpering when he turned back to Hiccup with big, pleading eyes.

Hiccup sighed again. "Sorry, bud, but Dad will have my neck if anything happens to those sheep." Toothless's eyes grew bigger. "We can go flying when he gets back, okay?"

Toothless groaned and slowly made the few steps to fill the gap between them. Hiccup smiled and patted his dragon on the head. "Come on, bud."

They both walked down the winding streets of Berk fairly quickly; they would have gotten there even more quickly if Hiccup had ridden Toothless, but it really wasn't worth the time to hook Toothless up with the new saddle, so they were both okay with walking.

They reached the fields in minutes. Toothless nestled down in the grass, flaming his seat before lying down comfortably like a cat. Hiccup looked about and found one of the Viking's shepherding staffs. He bent and grabbed it and sighed when he realized that it was about two feet taller than his head. He held onto it with both hands and sank it comfortably into the ground for support; it'd have to do.

He looked out to see a few dozen sheep walking slowly all around the pasture, stopping every now and then to chew their cud and look dully around their surroundings. They were all walking about, occasionally lifting their heads to look at Hiccup for a few seconds, their mouths constantly moving.

Hiccup silently counted them all under his breath for a moment before nodding and turning to Toothless, "Let's go take them to the pond."

Toothless gave him a look.

Hiccup groaned and gave Toothless a shove before gathering the sheep (which was far harder than he thought it would be. You'd think that those sheep were nailed to the grass the way they suddenly became dead weight), and heading toward the woods that surrounded Berk. Toothless threw him a reluctant look, making Hiccup yell over his shoulder, "Bud, come on!" Toothless groaned and stretched out like a dog after a long nap before smacking his lips and following Hiccup.

The walk down to the pond was rather quiet, save for the little pitter patter of sheep feet. Hiccup used his great staff to move them around and keep them from running into trees, which was easier said than done. It became even harder when Hiccup's prosthetic leg got caught in a tree root, causing the young Viking to curse under his breath as he pulled it out from under it.

Straightening, he ran rather clumsily to keep up with the sheep, who by now had found the pond.

The pond was a rough octagon shape, with little rocks and pebbles forming its bank. Mildew and algae filled the pond along with disgusting looking water, making Hiccup wrinkle his nose slightly as he shouted, "Alright, everyone to the bank!"

The sheep bleated and looked at him forlornly but not one took one step forward. Hiccup sighed, wiped at his eyes, and said, "Alright, now!" and he prodded the sheep nearest him with his staff. That sheep, however, was Phil, Gobber's sheep (normally Phil hung out with Gobber, but the shepherds took care of him when Gobber was exceptionally busy, like now. Even with Hiccup doing his fair share, Gobber had a lot to do as of late), and instead of moving or even protesting, he grabbed the end of Hiccup's walking stick and with a firm grip, started to chew on it.

"Phil!" Hiccup yelled. He grunted and tried to tug the stick out of the sheep's mouth but to no result. Phil watched Hiccup lazily as he continued to chew and start to bleat.

Hiccup groaned again. "Toothless, bud, can you come help me with this rioting sheep?" Toothless had been sitting by the pond on his hind legs, watching the water expectantly for fish. Unbeknownst to him, there was nothing in that pond beside murky water, slippery rocks and the occasional animal horn. He turned his head slowly to look at Hiccup and simply stared at him for a moment.

"Please?" Hiccup huffed as he tried once again to wrench the stick out of Phil's mouth. Phil cried and yanked harder.

Toothless watched with a slight sense of amusement for a moment before going on all fours and over to the sheep. He gently picked Phil up with his mouth, his teeth withdrawn so that if he pierced through Phil's thick wool, he wouldn't hurt him. Phil squealed with surprise and let go of the stick. Hiccup haaed and examined the bottom of the stick hurriedly. He let out a breath of relief when there was no apparent damage and watched Toothless put Phil down. Toothless gave Phil a slight kick toward the water and made all the other sheep move by bumping them with his head. They all squealed and went down to the water's edge.

Hiccup smiled and patted Toothless appreciatively. The Night Fury and boy watched the sheep drink for a few minutes and Hiccup was pleasantly surprised how Toothless was taking to not eating the sheep. It was, to his annoyance then, when Toothless looked over to a small gathering of lambs and licked his dragon lips. Hiccup, being rather observant, shook his head and said to Toothless, "You just had your breakfast, bud. Don't eat the sheep." Toothless sighed and continued watching the sheep.

A few minutes passed and all the sheep yawned simultaneously and turned. Toothless obliged and helped Hiccup move them back to the pasture.

The sun was high in the sky by the time they came back. Vikings from all over the village had woken up and were moving around, doing their chores and taking care of their dragons. Toothless guided the sheep into their place and he laid down on the grass like a cat, his head between his arms. Hiccup sighed and fell down next to him and leaned against him, the staff on the ground.

You'd think that they were pretty set in this state, all calm and quiet and relaxed. Toothless was not happy with this, however. While the fish Hiccup gave him was the same as he usually gave him, he had a rather unpleasant and unusual rumbling in his stomach around ten o'clock. Hiccup gave him a confused look before leaning back against him and Toothless tried to ignore it, but down in the pit of his Night Fury stomach, a faint and yet noticeable hollowness was annoying him.

Toothless tried to ignore it, he really did, but when after a while that same hollowness didn't go away, he licked his lips and gazed over the field. Before his eyes were dozens of plump, fat, juicy, lazy, big sheep. He licked his lips again.

Hiccup noticed this and his gaze fell over to the sheep and back to Toothless in a second.

"Toothless," he said in a quiet yet warning tone as he used his arms to help himself sit up straighter, "don't eat the sheep."

Toothless growled under his breath and licked his lips again. Now he could imagine the soft, sweet taste of raw lamb, the flesh so awesomely chewy...

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled, but it was too late. Toothless had risen and approached an unsuspecting little piece of wool covered mid-morning snack. It looked up to see a rather threatening looking Night Fury with its teeth bared and sharp looking. The little ewe cried out in shock as Toothless wrapped his tongue around it and pulled it into his mouth.

Hiccup had instantly leapt to his feet the moment Toothless stood up and ran over to Toothless and watched in horror as Toothless put the sheep into his mouth.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup yelled, making the dragon turn to him, his mouth twitching around. Hiccup looked at him with a face of pure annoyance and he stamped his one foot and pointed to the ground by his foot. "Spit that sheep out right now!"

Toothless looked at him and shook his head. His mouth twitched even more.

Hiccup groaned inwardly and said, "Toothless, spit it out!" He was considering using the threat of no fish but that would just result in Toothless swallowing the little ewe. He hoped to all that was merciful that that sheep didn't belong to anyone he knew who was particularly ready to pick a fight.

Toothless groaned at Hiccup's tone and turned his entire body to face Hiccup. The small boy looked rather pissed, to say the least.

"Spit it out! Spit out the sheep!" Hiccup commanded. Toothless gave him an unamused face and let the sheep fall out of his mouth. The little ewe squeaked and stood up unsteadily on its legs, shaking like a leaf. Hiccup and Toothless watched it look back and forth between them before squeaking again and rushing off as fast as its little legs could go.

Now that the sheep was out of Toothless, Hiccup smiled and approached his dragon, who looked rather confused. He patted his neck affectionately and said, "Aww, Toothless. You're a good dragon, you know that?" Toothless smiled slightly and licked his boy happily. Hiccup squealed and once Toothless's tongue was off him, held out his arms and examined himself, noting that his entire being was covered in dragon spit with a little clump of sheep wool on his vest for good measure. Lovely.

"Thanks bud, I needed that," Hiccup sighed as he patted Toothless again.

The rest of the day went by quietly. Hiccup saved three sheeps' lives from being swallowed by two Deadly Nadders and a Zippleback, who was trying to tear the sheep in two. Toothless nearly trampled a small gathering of ewes who were most likely gossiping and then Phil got lost. Joy.

"Where could he have gone Toothless?" Hiccup sighed. It was late afternoon by now and the sun was setting fast. When one finishes counting all the sheep, one was prefer that all the sheep were there. Hiccup had counted and there was no Gobber's sheep to be found.

"I hate Phil," Hiccup muttered as he hurried on down to the harbor (he had already taken a great deal of time searching the village and pasture and immediate forest thoroughly), leaving Toothless in charge of the other sheep. After getting another basketful of fish, (courtesy of Astrid, who came down with lunch for them, smelling like the dragon stables), the thought of eating the sheep was out of his mind. They were now like little babies, always walking around and ignoring their elders. Toothless sniffed and watched over them like an over-protective mother hen.

The sun was just setting when Hiccup finally reached the bottom of Hooligan Harbor. Hiccup yawned loudly and looked about for the little sheep. There was a not so surprising lack of a longboat, narrowing his search down only slightly.

He walked along the edge of the harbor, looking into each boat for the troublemaker before turning to the next. Ten minutes later, Hiccup turned to the rest of the harbor. He searched along the barrels and coils of rope before turning when he heard a small bleat coming from overhead. He frowned when he saw Phil bleating on a tower of barrels and boxes.

The barrels and boxes were stacked in a way that made Hiccup wonder how on Earth the little animal had gotten itself up there. It looked nearly impossible to climb up, retrieve Phil, and get back down without breaking something important.

Hiccup thought for a moment but couldn't think of a way to get Phil down. Of course, during his thinking, a Terrible Terror chased a sea gull right by the tower, making the barrels and boxes shake like crazy and Phil bleat loudly as he lost his footing and fell.

Hiccup yelled as he held out his arms and caught the animal, making him fall to the ground with a loud THUD!

The sun had nearly set when Toothless looked up to see a tired looking Hiccup lugging a bored looking Phil under his arm. Once they were both on the field, Hiccup dropped Phil unceremoniously and over to Toothless, who was watching him, a little concerned.

The fishbone groaned and sank to the ground next to Toothless. He let out a breath and turned to Toothless and said, "You know, I really don't like Phil."

Toothless nodded sympathetically and they both looked out and watched the rest of the sun disappear.

The sunset was nice, but it couldn't push a little nagging thought in the back of Hiccup's head: He'd have to do this again tomorrow.

**Three of my fave characters! Unlike Hiccup, I think Phil is one of the best sheep I have ever seen. Nothing can shake him. He's brilliant. I hoped you liked and please, leave a review!**


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